Today is the fishing opener for the state so people are heading out to the lakes at the crack of dawn to catch the big one, except some lakes are still iced over. I am a wimp and I will wait a month until the landscape greens up before thinking about fishing as I prefer a sunny day with the temperature just right for short sleeves shirt and a light breeze from the west to blow the bugs away.
Waiting for a Warmer Fishing Day
This barn might be old and not used anymore but the roof looks good to provide some dry places for the critters outside which are probably tired of getting snowed and rained on for the past week.
It would be interesting to peek into this barn to see if there is a silo inside the barn and if it was a square one or why this particular design on the end of the barn. It must have had a purpose, one that I might never know, but I do know it is an interesting barn.
Interesting Shaped Barn
The traditional of a leaving a May basket filled with flowers on neighbors or friends doorsteps, has been fading in popularity since the late 20th century. That is probably a good thing this year since I would have trouble finding any flowers to put in the May basket as I don’t think one lone Bloodroot, which hasn’t opened up, will fill a basket.
May Day
April closes out for many towns in the area as the second wettest April on record (unless the rain today pushes it to the first) and not all the precipitation was rain as the shovels had many opportunities to get a workout this spring. I’m not sure even the ducks like this wet weather but they didn’t seem to notice the rain or snow as they splashed in the water by the pond. But the real question is will all these April showers bring May flowers.
Very Wet April
It is rather depressing to see snowflakes flying in the air in the end of April. I don’t know if April snow showers will bring May flowers since the four wildflowers that have poked their heads up are keeping their blossoms closed up tight. The snow showers probably will freeze the poor little flowers. And I don’t think the bluebirds like the snow anymore than I do and hopefully they are huddling together in their birdhouse to keep warm.
Late April Snow Showers
Yesterday the ice broke up and quickly disappeared by the ice caves on Lake Superior near Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Last month people were still visiting the ice caves, walking on the frozen surface of Lake Superior and two months I had brave the cold weather to visit them too. I am glad I wasn’t on the ice when it broke up as the creaking and cracking was spooky enough when I taking pictures.
Click here to view the ice break from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. (Click on the Next button to cycle through the ice break up pictures.) The webcam shot is looking out the opposite direction as the image below, so the cliff in the back on the left, is the same cliff on the right in the image below looking towards the webcam.
Frozen World
April showers bring May flowers. Well hopefully this rainy April week will bring some flowers and maybe finally melt the last of the snow. Normally there would be some wildflowers open by now but not this year and only the second type of early spring bulbs have opened so far this year.
The Scilla siberica (Siberian squill or wood squill) is native to south western Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey, and strangely, despite its name, it is not native to Siberia. It is cultivated for its bluebell-like flowers and it naturalizes rapidly from seed. At a height of less than six inches, it is suitable for planting in grass, and will spread by seed to form large colonies that go dormant by the time grass needs to be mowed. In the Midwestern United States it is becoming invasive in some situations. It is very hardy and cold tolerant, and is left untouched by critters from voles to deer.
Siberian Squill
Many states are celebrating Arbor Day today, the last Friday of April. All 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan.
Morton felt that Nebraska’s landscape would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees for wind breaks. When he became a member of Nebraska’s state board of agriculture, he proposed that a special day be set aside dedicated to tree planting and increasing awareness of the importance of trees. More than one million trees were planted on Nebraska’s first Arbor Day.
I’m glad my squirrels forget where they bury all their acorns so they plant new oak trees for me as most of my old oaks are getting hollow and blowing down.
Old Oak Tree
There are no leaves on the trees or corn planted in the field yet since it is the dull time of spring after the snow disappears (or most of it) and before things begin to green up, but with a rainy day on a dull landscape, I needed a more colorful picture. The old rock foundation and the mismatched upper windows caught my eye on this old barn.
Old Stones
